Dyatlov Pass Incident

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Location: Kholat Syakhl, Northern Urals, Russian SFSR, Russia
Dates Active: February 1 - February 2, 1959
Category: Conspiracies, Mass Deaths, Unexplained Deaths
Cause: Various possible
Status: Closed
Entry ID: 010624D-00005

Summery: 

Russian hikers die under mysterious circumstances in the Ural Mountains.

In Depth:

Ten hikers set out on an extreme, several week hike in the Ural Mountains. One of the hikers comes down with a sickness, leading him to return home while the remaining nine continue on without him. They are never heard from again.

Investigators were sent up to the mountain when the hikers did not report back, finding their tent in a state of disarray with holes cut out of the side of the tent from the inside. Inside the tent they found that the hikers had left significant portions of their clothing, which could be lethal in the severe winter cold.

Over the next month the bodies of the hikers are found. All nine had died, six from what appeared to be hypothermia while the other three had succumbed to severe internal injuries. An autopsy performed on them concluded that the hikers had died due to a "compelling natural force" but did not expand upon what that meant, leading to years worth of conspiracy theories, including aliens, animal/monster attack, infrasound-induced panic, military involvement and coverup, the supernatural, even a lover's quarrel. A more recent investigation claimed it was due to a slab avalanche, though many are unconvinced of that.

Other odd evidence pointing to various other theories continue to pop up, such as one victim's clothing were found to be radioactive, strange orange orbs being witnessed in the sky over the area by other hikers nearly 30 miles away from the incident, and strange internal injuries on one hiker that were compared to that of a person being hit by a car.

Notable Theories:

  • Avalanche/Slab Avalanche: A slab avalanche are notable in that they are the cause of the majority of fatalities, and can form in flat areas where wind influences how snow gets deposited, much like the area where the hikers set up their tent. While the condition of the hiker's tent and the bodies does not line up with that of a typical avalanche, a small slab avalanche very well could have.
  • Infrasound-induced Panic: One theory purposes that low frequency sounds at or below 20 Hz could have induced a feeling of panic in the hikers, causing them to flee their tent, possibly in the dark or when snow caused poor visibility. The idea goes that once they were far enough away from their tent to come to their senses, they were either injured by falling into a ravine or were unable to find their way back to the safety of the tent in the dark, and thus succumbed to the elements.
  • Katabatic Wind: Strong winds could have caused the hikers to abandon their tent and seek shelter in the trees. However, even in such a violent wind storm they could have retrieved more of their clothing and survival gear before escaping.
  • Animal/Cryptid Attack: Supposedly a yeti or some other strange creature could have caused the hikers to flee from their tent. However, no animal tracks were discovered at the tent site nor around the bodies.
  • Aliens: The strange way they had left the tent, the odd condition of the bodies and reports of glowing orange orbs in the area led some to believe UFO or alien activity was involved in the hiker's fate, though no evidence supports this idea.
  • Military Tests (Nuclear Tests): Some evidence suggest that the hikers were exposed to some sort of radiation, as some of their clothing were discovered to be radioactive. Some speculate that the hikers either witnessed some sort of test that they were not supposed to and disposed of by military personnel, or ended up within an area being used to test nuclear weaponry and succumbed to injuries induced by that test. However, radiation exposure should have affected all of their equipment, not just their clothing.
  • Military Tests (Parachute Mines): According to some records the Soviets were testing parachute mines around this area at the time of the hiker's trek. One theory suggests that the explosions from the mines would have driven the hikers from their tent, easily causing the internal injuries found within the bodies with the concussive force of the detonations.
  • Paradoxical Undressing: Many of the hikers died from hypothermia, which can cause the body to feel as though it is experiencing overheating and may make some undress in order to relieve that sensation. This is known as paradoxical undressing: the act of removing warm clothing in freezing temperatures because your body thinks it feels warm. However, some of the hikers had taken clothing from some of their fallen comrades and attempted to start a fire, thus indicating that they were trying to stop freezing.

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Last Updated: April 15, 2024

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